PARIS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday described this year's World Expo(世博会) theme of "Better City, Better Life" as a bold(大胆的) and lucid(明晰的) choice focused on a significant challenge for the future.
The president is scheduled to(按日程来做某事) visit China on April 28-30 with stops at Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai, where the exposition will be held from May 1 to Oct. 31.
"Taking the theme 'Better City, Better Life', you have chosen to make the 2010 Shanghai Expo an event resolutely(毅然地) focused toward the future," Sarkozy told Xinhua in an interview.
He said, while the number of city dwellers(居住者) continued to grow across the world and issues related to urban(城市的) development became more and more significant, many problems needed to be solved. So China's choice of "Better City, Better Life" was appropriate(恰当的).
"I pay tribute to(赞颂) the organizers of the 2010 Shanghai Expo who have made a lucid and bold choice," he said.
Sarkozy said France was one of the firm supporters of Shanghai's candidacy(候选人身份) for the exposition and was the first country to have promised to participate(参加) in the event.
"The choice of China and the choice of Shanghai, were something very important for us; that is the reason why I wanted to personally attend the opening ceremony," he said.
The president said China has made great efforts to make the expo "a huge success."
Sarkozy said the design and display in the France pavilion(临时展馆) would reflect a real, colorful, confident and open France.